The Repeater (electronic version)
Newsletter of the Arkansas River Valley Amateur Radio Foundation
Russellville, Arkansas
March, 1999



Officers:
     
President: Nick Kennedy,  WA5BDU                               
Vice-President - Margaret Alexander,  KC5MCS                       
Secretary-Treasurer - Charles Hall,  KC5CVG

ARVARF Board:
John Evans, WB5BHS
Dick Koski, W5VUB
Tom Hughes KC5VRI
Les Hendrickson KD5DKL
Dennis Schaefer W5RZ


Newsletter staff
Dennis Schaefer W5RZ
Melissa Schaefer KI5QJ
John Evans WB5BHS
Jonathan Setcer KC5BRY
Charlotte Stockton KC5CKQ

CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

March
16 - ARVARF meeting, Ryan's, Meeting at 7:00, those who want to eat, come
at 6:00.
23 - RACES meeting, 911 building.  7:00 p.m.

Every Saturday  at 0700-0800 - breakfast meeting at Perkins Restaurant.
ARVARF Net - Every Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. on 146.82 (except club meeting night)

HAMFEST REPORT

ARVARF Hamfest 99 - the best ever!!!  I think I can safely say that a good
time was had by all.  Approximately 500 radio enthusiasts attended.  The
weather cooperated, which was a relief to all of us.  The informative
forums were well attended.  All tables were filled  by vendors and traders
as well as some tailgaters outside.  The ladies did their usual great job
with the concessions.  There was a long list of good prizes.  The only
shortage was in parking spaces.  Preliminary figures indicate that we
cleared $1,973.29 which is an increase of several hundred dollars.  All in
all, everyone went away pleased.  Many positive comments were heard on
regional nets.

Thanks to all who participated.  It was a great group effort.
                            
Margaret Alexander
Hamfest Chairman

FORT SMITH HAMFEST

The Fort Smith Hamfest will be Saturday, March 13.  It will be at the Fort
Smith Civic Center,  55 South Seventh St.  (Behind Holiday Inn Downtown).
Doors open at 8:30 a.m.  VE testing will be at 10:00 a.m.  Admission is
$5.00 with under age 16 free.  Flea market tables are $10.00 and setup time
starts at 6:00 a.m.  Special guest will be Doug Hendricks,  "Mr. QRP".
Doug will present a special QRP forum and will have some interesting new
kits to show off.  For more information contact Win Dooley, 501-785-5313
or wb5kom@amsat.org.

SCHAEFER/BUMPUS RUMBLE SET FOR LITTLE ROCK HAMFEST

To many of us, 45 word per minute CW would sound like, well, noise.  To
Dennis Schaefer, W5RZ, there is actually information contained in there.
Several years ago, Dennis won the CW contest and set a Little Rock Hamfest
record at 45 words per minute.  Last year, Floyd Bumpus, N5EL, seemed to
come out of nowhere (actually Temple, Texas) and captured the CW contest
with a record tying performance of 45 WPM.  And that sets the stage.

This year at the Little Rock hamfest on April 24th, the Shootout at High
Noon is more than just a shootout.  It's the CW King of the Hill...It's the
Schaefer/Bumpus Rumble...It's the Mother of all CW contests...It's the Last
CW Championship of the Twentieth Century...alas;It's the last Shootout of
this Millennium!  When asked for comment, neither of these two CW giants
chose to put anything "on the record".  Some have said, however, that there
could easily be bad blood brewing.  That could stem from Floyd, a
transplanted Arkansan, now returning to take the prize back to Texas. 

Of course, this contest will be open to all comers, and it is possible that
the champion of the last Shootout at High Noon of this millennium may not
be N5EL or W5RZ.  There has been some interest shown from other operators
and will probably be a lot more before the dust settles.  But one thing for
sure, if you can't copy 50 WPM, you should probably keep your gun in its
holster.

Randy Young, N5LE
reprinted from the A.R.E.S. Wavelengths newsletter

DUES ARE DUE

Now is the time to make sure your 1999 dues are paid.  Please check your
expiration date, just above your address.  (If receiving the e-mail version
and you're not sure if you have paid or not, check with w5rz@cswnet.com

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

The leading topic for this month's collection of random thoughts is of
course the hamfest, and appropriately so. I hope the Hamfest 99 organizers
and workers are basking in the satisfaction of a job well done because it
is truly well deserved. Come to the March meeting for a full debriefing.

Elsewhere, I'm wondering what the lengthening daylight hours and hints of
Spring are putting area hams in mind of ... ?

Low band operators are wanting to get in some activity before Spring and
Summer QRN crashes force them up in frequency. DXers and 10 meter
enthusiasts wonder if this summer will show more positive signs of the
impending sunspot cycle peak. (Maybe another 1957 or 1979 is in the works?)
RACES members and other emergency communications volunteers are keeping
their skills and equipment in a state of readiness for the unpredictable
Spring weather season. Antenna experimenters are thinking of getting down
some radials for their ground mounted verticals before the grass gets thick
and getting some wires in the trees before the foliage becomes
impenetrable. Plus there's maintenance on towers and supports to take on as
the weather improves. And thanks to ARVARF, many of us have had our
appetites whetted for hamfest season.

So it seems that there's always plenty to do in amateur radio. I just hope
you're doing better on your to-do list than I am on mine.

73,

Nick, WA5BDU

N5URB NEW OZK MANAGER

Congratulations to ARVARF member Philip Mullins, N5URB, on being named
manager of OZK, the Arkansas CW traffic net.  OZK meets each evening at
7:00 p.m. local time on 3.592 Khz.  They would welcome your participation,
and they will slow down for you!  The normal net speed is pretty moderate,
anyway, so give a listen and then check in with them.

WANT-ADS

Free - tower guy wire, approximately 1/4 inch, about 200 ft available.
Steve Stevenson, W5QC.  967-5283.

Cushcraft A-3 triband beam (20-15-10), excellent condition. $125.00, or
$100.00 if you get it down from the tower.  Dennis, W5RZ 967-4372

FEBRUARY MINUTES

ARVARF met on Tuesday 16 Feb 1999 at Ryan's.  Margaret Alexander called the
meeting to order at 7:00 PM.  The minutes of last meeting were approved.
The treasurer's report for January was approved.  A motion was made and
approved to transfer $100.00 from the General Fund to the Sunshine Fund.
Ben Hillis reported on the test session.  The Butternut antenna will be put
up at 911 on Tuesday the 23rd.  A letter from Connie was read  expressing
her appreciation for the plaque given to her by the club. 

Steve Mercure gave a salute to JY1, now SK.  A Hamfest meeting for final
arrangements was held.  The meeting was ended at 7:19 PM.

Charles Hall KC5CVG, Secretary

CALIFORNIA REPEATER SHUT DOWN AFTER FCC ORDER

The San Francisco area's K7IJ Grizzly Peak repeater system is off the air
in the wake of an FCC shut-down order, and the FCC's amateur radio enforcer
Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, says he's been in touch by telephone with the
repeater's licensee and owner, Bruce Wachtell of Carson City, Nevada.
Citing what it called "an alarming and unacceptable lack of control over
the operations of these repeaters," the  FCC had notified Wachtell that it
was ordering his system shut down for 120 days as of midnight, February 28.
The K7IJ system includes repeaters for the 146, 222, and 440 MHz bands.

Wachtell, 64, a shipboard operator on a container vessel, has been at sea
in the Pacific and did not receive the FCC's notification. Subsequent
efforts to reach him by satellite telephone proved unsuccessful. On March
2, after he had not heard from Wachtell and was unable to contact him,
Hollingsworth got the repeater site owner to shut down the four K7IJ
machines and lock out access. Hollingsworth said he considered the K7IJ
system "a runaway repeater" since the licensee apparently was not in
control and was unavailable to the FCC.

Hollingsworth said that while he and Wachtell had a generally fruitful
conversation, the repeater will remain shut down, and the FCC still expects
Wachtell to respond fully and in writing to FCC inquiries. In his letter to
Wachtell, Hollingsworth requested a reply within 30 days as to "any
detailed steps you may propose to take to correct the operational problems
with your repeater system and in regard to the control operator."

In the meantime, the FCC continues to look into "actions and omissions" of
the individual identified as the K7IJ control operator, Blake B. Jenkins,
N6YSA, as well as the conduct of an alleged secondary control operator
Steven R. Rossi, KE6LNH. Hollingsworth said the FCC has information
indicating that Jenkins "invited unlicensed operators to use the repeater,
encouraged jamming, and has otherwise taken no action to control the
repeater systems to ensure compliance with our rules."

The K7IJ shutdown has put some repeater operators into a panic,
Hollingsworth said. "There is no general cause for alarm," he advised. The
only repeater owners who need to be worried are those who fail to maintain
control over their repeaters, he said.

The FCC also issued warnings to Mervyn Ehambrave about alleged unlicensed
operation on the K7IJ repeater, and to Timmy O Sheen Sr, N6MZA, about
alleged jamming and rebroadcasts of cordless phones.

(From The ARRL Letter)